New Delhi: The Netflix series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ which is receiving rave reviews is based on a real-life incident in which IC 814, an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 was hijacked and flown to several locations before landing in Afghanistan’s Kandahar on December 24, 1999. It was a spine-chilling incident as five masked men hijacked the plane with 176 passengers on board. The main motive behind hijacking the plane was to secure the release of three terrorists held in prison in India: Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheik.
Hijack of IC 814: What did the hijackers demand?
Initially, the hijackers, among other things, demanded the release of 36 prisoners, the body of HuM founder Sajjad Afghani and $200 million. But in the end, after negotiations, the demands boiled down to the release of three prisoners: Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar. Who were these prisoners?
Masood Azhar and his terrorist activities
Born in 1968, Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi is a terrorist who founded the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed. The group is mainly active in and around the Kashmir region and has carried out several terrorist attacks over the years. According to the BBC News, he is ‘the man who brought jihad to Britain’, indicating that his activities extend to the UK as well. On 1 May 2019, the United Nations Security Council listed Masood Azhar as an international terrorist.
In early 1994, Azhar travelled to Srinagar under a fake identity and was arrested by the Indian forces in February from Khanabal near Anantnag. He was imprisoned at Srinagar’s Badami Bagh Cantonment, Delhi’s Tihar Jail and lastly Jammu’s Kot Balwal Jail. Some major terrorist activities of Jaish-e-Mohammed are:
Attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001
Mumbai attacks in 2008
Attack on attack on IAF base in Pathankot in 2016
Pulwama attack in 2019
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and his terrorist activities
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh is a terrorist who joined the jihadist group Harkat-ul-Ansar or Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in the 1990s. Also, he has been part of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Al-Qaeda. In 1994, during the kidnappings of Western tourists in India, he was arrested in action and imprisoned. Ahmed is best known for his role in the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in 2002.
In February 2002, the Pakistani police arrested him in Lahore in connection with the murder of Pearl. In July, a special judge of an anti-terrorism court sentenced him to death. But in April 2020, Pakistan’s Sindh High Court overturned Sheikh’s murder conviction and his seven-year sentence for kidnapping was considered as time-served.
Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and his terrorist activities
Born in 1967, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar is a militant active in the insurgency in and around Kashmir. Also, he is the founder of Al-Umar Mujahedeen, a militant outfit. On December 12, 1989, Zargar took part in the kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, then Home Minister of India. Over the years, at least 36 murder cases have been registered against Zargar in Srinagar, including for killings of high-ranking Indian officers.
IC 814, an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 was hijacked and flown to several locations before landing in Afghanistan’s Kandahar on December 24, 1999. The main motive behind hijacking the plane was to secure the release of three terrorists held in prison in India, including that of Masood Azhar. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
